Whoosh!
Following the voice, a pot-bellied man appeared in everyone's view.
When Luo saw him, his expression eased up, and he sighed in relief. He then glanced at the woman beside him with a questioning gaze.
The woman nodded in response. "We are not his match, so I informed Elder Raina about it."
The pot-bellied man wasn't the Elder Riana but his underling, and also an Elder of the disciplinary hall. This meant he was a three-star mage, more than enough to take care of Max. Or so they thought…
The pot-bellied man glanced around and saw the man fainted in a pool of his own blood.
"What's happening here?" He bellowed angrily.
When he received Elder Raina's order to take care of a disciple here, he was having 'fun' with his newly bought Elvin slaves. Although greatly displeased upon being interrupted, he could only obey. So, now he wanted to take out his anger on the disciple who was causing a ruckus here.
Luo immediately stepped forward and pointed at Max before recounting how he barged into the hall and started beating his companion.
"If Elder had come a little later, I'm afraid the two of us would've been in the same condition."
The pot-bellied man stared at Luo for a moment before saying, "Who the fuck are you? Why does an inner disciple want to beat you guys up? Tell me the details or I'll arrest all four of you."
Luo frowned and the woman beside him hurriedly said, "Elder, we three were going to complete a task Elder Raina assigned us to when this guy came."
The pot-bellied man gave a deep look to the woman before nodding. "I understand the situation now. You guys were doing your duty when this disciple barged in and started causing trouble for you for no reason. Is that correct?"
"Yes, Elder." The woman smiled.
The man then glanced at Max and said in a tone of a superior, "Since you assaulted a disciplinary disciple, you'll be punished with 100 whips and be put in the isolation chamber for 6 months."
Gasp!
The crowd gasped when they heard this. Although 100 whips didn't seem like much, they were in fact a lot, because the way the disciplinary hall whipped you wasn't normal.
Before you were whipped, your mana core will be restricted, making you unable to use mana, and once a mage wasn't able to use his mana, he was akin to a common civilian.
Then, the special barbed whips would be infused with mana, causing you unimaginable pain and serious injuries. Many disciples had died while being whipped. As if it wasn't enough, Max was to be put in the isolation chamber for six months.
While the crowd pitied the fate that awaited Max, he was looking at the pot-bellied Elder as though he was looking at an idiot. This made the man angry, and he bellowed, "Disrespectful brat! You'll be whipped 200 times now."
Max shook his head and chuckled, "I attacked that guy and since it is against the rules, I should be punished, but the punishment of 100 whips is already too excessive. Now, you are increasing it to 200 just because of a look? You guys from the disciplinary hall really live up to your reputation of being unreasonable."
He then shrugged. "Well… it doesn't matter what punishment you want to give me because…"
Boom!
Suddenly, orange colour mana burst out of him and wrapped around his legs before he took a step forward.
Whoosh!
After using his true three-star mana, his speed had increased by several folds. He seemed to have vanished from the people's sight and when he appeared; he was already in front of the pot-bellied man, his fist coated with orange mana punching at his bloated belly.
"You are not qualified to."
Bang!
Although the pot-bellied man was on alert the moment he saw the orange coloured mana around Max, he wasn't quick enough to react. So, the punch landed squarely on his gut, causing his belly fat to undulate violently before he was sent flying backwards and crashed into the wall.
What?!
Everyone was shocked. Their shock was not only because he dared to attack an Elder but also because he succeeded and almost knocked him out in one punch.
"He… is a three-star mage?"
"Yeah. I also noticed. His mana was orange coloured."
"But… has he gone mad or something? Why is he attacking everyone he sees?"
"I heard him talking to that guy named Luo. They seemed to have bullied his sister when he wasn't in the academy. He is here for revenge."
"But why did he attack the Elder? Is he tired of living?"
"Well, I'm not too sure about that."
"…"
The crowd started murmuring among themselves.
Max ignored everyone and moved toward the Elder. Although he was spitting out blood, Max could see he wasn't injured too severely.
'He is a three-star mage in the end.'
"You bastard! How dare you attack an Elder?" The Elder hurriedly jumped to his feet when he saw Max coming toward him and assumed a defensive stance.
Yes, despite feeling humiliated and enraged beyond belief, he didn't dare to attack because in that one exchange — if it can be called that — he had ascertained he wasn't this blue-haired disciple's match.
"So what if you are an Elder?" Max scoffed as a crimson flame started burning around his right fist and within a few moments, the flames covered it completely.
This surprised Max because he had just used 2000 mana units and, based on his current mastery of [Calidus Brachium] and his mana control, it should've taken him at least ten seconds to activate the spell.
However, he didn't have the luxury to think about the reason behind this change. So, he focused his thoughts and rushed at the Elder, his blazing fist raised to shoulder level.
'Damn it!' The Elder cursed. Quickly mobilising his mana, he conjured up a thick earthen wall in front of him. He then took out his communication crystal and sent a distress message to other Elders of the disciplinary hall.
'I just need to stall him for some—' He couldn't even complete this train of thought when suddenly,
Boom!
His earthen wall exploded into pieces, and then he felt scalding heat on his chest.
Crack!
A clear crunching sound of bones breaking sounded in his ears before he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Upon looking down, he saw Max's fist embedded into his chest.
"You…" He could only utter a single word before the colour from his eyes waned. He was dead.
Max looked at his fist in astonishment. Although he easily broke the earthen wall, he knew if he was only a peak two-star mage, even multiple [Calidus Brachium] powered by more than 2000 mana units wouldn't have been enough to destroy it.
He didn't look like it, but this Elder was stronger than the two three-star mages he killed using grade three talismans on his way back from the Elvin city. But… he killed him so easily?
'Is this what that old man was talking about when he said I'll be a lot stronger than others on my level upon breaking through?' He thought.
"Y-You… you killed him?" Luo looked at him with a face covered in horror. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"I didn't plan to, but I seem to have underestimated my strength." Max shrugged nonchalantly.
After he heard the conversation between the Elder and the woman, he had faintly guessed that the main perpetrator behind Anna's bullying was the Elder Raina and this pot-bellied Elder was his underling.
This alone had aroused his killing intent and, after he was 'rewarded' 100 whips that were akin to a death sentence, he had decided to kill him.
"You… you will be killed for this crime." Luo said while retreating.
"Perhaps." Max shrugged. He then vanished, appeared in front of the horrified Luo and grabbed him by his throat, coldly saying, "But you won't be alive to see it."
"W-Wait! Don't kill me. I'll tell you who told me to—"
Crack!
Before he could finish his sentence, Max cracked his neck, killing him.
"I don't need you to tell me. I already know." He scoffed, throwing the corpse away.
He then glanced at the woman who stood frozen with a terrified expression on her face and asked, "Just to make sure I'm not wrong, tell me if the person who asked you to bully my sister is this Elder Raina."
